Brightstar Taps New President/CEO

Miami — Brightstar, the wireless distributor and provider of wireless-channel services, tapped Jaymin B. Patel to succeed Marcelo Claure as president and CEO starting March 30.

Claure was Brightstar’s founder and president/CEO for almost 17 years before he left last August to become Sprint’s president and CEO.

Patel, 47, will also join the board of directors, consisting of Brightstar and SoftBank executives.

Patel joins Brightstar with more than 26 years of experience, most recently as president/CEO of GTech Americas, a part of the largest lottery and gaming company in the regulated gaming industry, Brightstar said. GTech provides technology and services in around 100 countries.

At GTech, Patel also served in a variety of global roles, including chief financial officer of GTech Holdings and president, COO and CEO of GTech’s global lottery, interactive and gaming businesses.

Patel’s global experience includes establishing and operating businesses in about 60 markets and leading more than a dozen merger and acquisition transactions. The company said his cross-border capital markets experience complements Brightstar’s global growth strategies, noting that Brightstar has completed four strategic acquisitions in Asia, Europe and North America over the past year and a half.

With operations in more than 100 countries, Brightstar is one of the largest distributors of mobile device accessories in the world, the company said. Brightstar started with a distribution focus and evolved to add such services as device buyback and trade-in programs in more than 25 countries along with supply chain, financial, device insurance and protection, and omnichannel services.

Arturo Osorio, who was COO and led Brightstar as interim president/COO following Claure’s departure, recently left the company.